Urbanimmunology: Shielding Cities and Society Through Transportation

This book introduces a transformative framework for rethinking how transportation systems shape, protect, and sustain urban and societal life. Drawing inspiration from the principles of immunology, this book redefines transportation as a living, self-regulating system--one that defends cities and society from disruptions, regenerates after crises, and adapts continuously to change.

Going far beyond traditional views of mobility, the book explores how transportation interacts with energy, materials, tourism, health, and regional development to form an integrated urban and societal ecosystem. Through this immune-inspired lens, transportation is not an isolated sector but a circulatory and defensive network--a central mechanism through which cities and society maintain balance, vitality, and resilience.

Each chapter bridges multiple disciplines. Readers will discover how renewable energy systems can be harmonized with transportation through immune-based control; how AI-driven traffic management supports adaptive responses; how low-altitude mobility and cross-border logistics strengthen regional immunity; and how tourism and public health policies can be integrated into a shared framework for sustainable urban vitality. The proposed Transportation Immune System (TIS) exemplifies this vision--an intelligent, adaptive infrastructure capable of detecting threats, responding dynamically, and facilitating systemic recovery.

Through a systems-thinking approach, this book shows how transportation can serve as the metabolic and immune backbone of cities and society. It goes beyond simply moving people and goods to mobilize energy, data, and resources in ways that enhance collective resilience and vitality. Supported by immune-informed policy frameworks, this vision bridges sectors and promotes cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Aimed at researchers, planners, policymakers, educators, and students, this book presents a bold roadmap for designing the cities and societies of the future. It reimagines transportation as more than a mere mobility service--it becomes a life-sustaining, regenerative system that protects urban and societal health, fosters sustainable growth, and strengthens the interconnected fabric of our communities.

Junyi Zhang is a professor at the School of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing, China. Prior to returning to his home country, he spent over 30 years working and livingin Japan. His expertise lies in interdisciplinary research spanning transportation, urban and regional planning, environment, energy, tourism, and public health, with a particular focus on human behavior and systems approaches. He has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed papers, published in prestigious journals such as Sustainable Cities and Society, Energy Policy, Energy, Transportation, Transportation Research Part A/B/C/D/E, Journal of Transport Geography, Transportmetrica, Travel Behavior and Society, Science of the Total Environment, Climate Change, Natural Hazards, Environment and Planning B, Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, and several Nature sub-journals. Professor Zhang has also served as a reviewer for numerous SCI/SSCI journals and as an editorial board member or associate editor for over ten internationally recognized journals.